A senior Iranian military offic­ial has warned that Tehran has prepared a plan to attack Israel if Israel bombs Iran, reported Nazila Fathi in Tehran in The Age (21/9/2007, p.11). “We have drawn up a plan to strike back at Israel with our bombers if this regime possibly makes a silly mistake,” General Mohammad Alavi, the deputy commander of Iran’s air force, said.

US, France name “Evil Empire”: General Alavi spoke after remarks by French Foreign Min­ister Bernard Kouchner, who said on Sunday that nations should prepare for a possible war with Iran if it continued with its nuclear drive. Kouchner and the French Foreign Ministry sub­sequently toned down the remarks. General Alavi added in a long interview with Iranian news agency Fars that Iran’s “missiles can reach all parts of Israel” if Iran wants to retaliate. “In addition, we can attack them with our fighter bombers in case of an unlikely attack. US Navy chiefs are concerned that Iran could resort to mining the strait and the wider Gulf in a major conflict.